Email preparing for Psalms Group on February 28, 2021
As several of of us are still dealing with the aftermath of last week’s winter storm, others of us are receiving our second vaccinations. Life in this strange chronos time continues, but, thankfully, so does liturgical time— kairos time, with each of our lives “hidden in Christ with God.” (Col. 3:3) Last week many of us chose an 8 line stanza from Psalm 119 for daily reflection during Lent. How has your stanza impacted your life in Christ this week? Reflect and pray about what God might want you to share about that with the rest of us.
Continuing in Book 5, the last book of Psalms, we prayed through the Songs of Ascent this week, Psalms 120-134, those triads of psalms showing people in trouble (120, 123, 126, 129), turning to YHWH in faith/trust/dependence (121,124, 127, 130) and experiencing security in their covenant God (122, 125, 128 131). The last 3 Songs of Ascent are psalms of arrival, celebrating the Davidic Covenant and Zion/Jerusalem (132), rejoicing in the unity and community of YHWH’s covenant people (133), and beginning or ending their worship together in the “house of the LORD” (134). Which of these Songs of Ascent especially awakened your mind and heart as you read, meditated, and prayed them in the first full week of Lent 2021? Also, ask God to show you what He wants you to share with the rest of us about what He showed you.
Our focus psalm this Sunday will be Psalm 130, an individual lament that is one of the seven penitential psalms, as well as one of the Songs of Ascent. Psalm 130 confronts directly the depths of chaos our own sins create in our lives; also Psalm 130 displays the mercy and unfailing love of YHWH who forgives our confessed iniquities.
Following the lectionary, you will also read Psalm 143 on Saturday night, another penitential psalm showing our dependence on God’s merciful and loving character to face our own sin. But in addition, Psalm 143 shows how other people’s sins against us (think abuse, injustice) also create chaos in our lives. In Lent, we ask God to show us all of the brokenness, the sins and the wounds.
In his book The Great Lent, Alexander Schmemann describes Lent as “a school of repentance” to which we go to deepen our faith, re-evaluate, and change our lives. Lenten practices are effective when they lead us to increased awareness of “God with us” and increased trust in God’s power and love. They are effective when they help us recover the vision and the taste of new life in Christ, and when they show us how the old life challenges the new life and makes it seem impossible.
I look forward to being with each of you and sharing our Lenten Psalms journey!
In Christ,
Toni